Midwifery

Gain the practical skills you'll need with a degree that meets the standards and competencies set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as well as the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly standards - an important quality mark for trusts.


- RANKINGS: Top 20 University for Nursing & Midwifery courses in the Guardian League Table 2021.


- ACCREDITATION: This degree is designed to meet the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly standards*, the gold-standard for midwifery programmes: and an important quality mark for trusts


- TEACHING HERITAGE: Derby has a 70-year track record in providing high-quality healthcare education and strong links with the local NHS trusts.


- IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE: Our course helps you become a knowledgeable, highly skilled, and compassionate midwife. You’ll learn the technical and interpersonal skills needed to ensure care is coordinated and tailored to individual women and new-born infants across diverse settings.


- PLACEMENTS: 50% of the course is made up of practical placements, so you'll develop essential clinical skills and gain a genuine feel for the practicalities and demands of the profession. These placements could be in the community, on antenatal and postnatal wards, in day assessment units, labour wards, and birth centres.


- FIRST-CLASS FACILITIES: We offer outstanding learning environments including Clinical Skills Suites built to professional standards with replica wards, counselling rooms and treatment rooms that are fully equipped with the latest clinical resources. Our specialist midwifery equipment includes a birthing pool, birthing beds, birthing stools and birthing balls, as well as model abdomens, pelvises and breasts.


- FINANCIAL SUPPORT: You will be able to access a funding package made up of tuition fee loans and support for your living costs. You can also secure grants — which do not have to be repaid — to cover childcare and the costs of travelling to your placement.


WHAT YOU'LL COVER:
Midwives work through many stages of the mother's journey: pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, labour and birth, postpartum (after childbirth), and the early days of the new-born’s life. You will support women's wellbeing, future reproductive health, and their transition to parenthood.
You'll work in partnership with women, enabling and empowering their views, preferences and decisions. As a midwife, you will make a vital contribution to the quality and safety of maternity care.

HOW YOU'RE ASSESSED:
We assess you in various ways depending on the module, such as by:
- written assignments


- oral examinations (VIVAs)


- objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE)


- written examinations, and


- case studies


YOUR CAREER:
This programme provides all the theoretical and practical elements you need to meet the NMC standards and be eligible for registration on the midwifery section of the NMC professional register. It will help you to start a new and highly-rewarding career, as a competent, confident and autonomous midwife, who is capable of making a real, positive difference to the lives of women and their new-born infants, partners and families. Once you have graduated and are on the register, you should be able to get an NHS position as a Registered (Graduate) Midwife (NHS Band 5) which will progress to band 6 following successful completion of the trust preceptorship programme. This qualification is also recognised in Europe, as well as other countries, so you could look for a midwife position overseas. After several years, you could progress to be a ward-based manager, specialist midwife, researcher or lecturer.

Based solely on more than 24,000 student reviews, we were named Uni Compare's University of the Year 2027, and voted 1st in the UK for employability and 2nd in the UK for course quality. Not only that, but 97% of students would recommend the University of Derby*, which we can offer you industry-relevant teaching, state-of-the-art study spaces, multi-award-winning accommodation, and a welcoming, inclusive community.

*Uni Compare 2027